This Morning fans defend Ben Shephard as he joins Chris Kamara amid difficulty

This Morning viewers praised Ben Shephard for joining his close friend Chris Kamara on the sofa on Tuesday morning.

The 48-year-old Good Morning Britain host appeared alongside the sports presenter, affectionally known as Kammy, 64, as he opened up about his speech disorder apraxia.

Chris first spoke about his condition in March, after fans expressed concern for the presenter when he notably slurred his speech on his weekly show, Soccer Saturday. Before, he left his regular job at Sky Sports after 24 years.

On This Morning, Chris opened up to Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond all about his diagnosis, ahead of his new ITV documentary, Chris Kamara: Lost for Words.

Ben Shephard appeared alongside his old friend, Chris Kamara on This Morning as Chris spoke about his speech disorder (ITV)

Chris explained: "[I was diagnosed] in 2019 but I told no one, you know when something isn't quite right. I knew if I spoke in long sentences, I couldn't get the words out. I thought I'm going to wake up one day and it'll all be gone.”

He added: "We take for granted when we speak, it’s natural but the message from [my] brain somehow gets confused and the words come out wrong, or they come out slow… or they don’t come out at all.

"My voice was my life so that was hard to accept. That’s why I kept it quiet, I thought there’s no way I can tell anybody.

Chris admitted that he didn't know when he woke up each day if he would be able to speak (ITV)

“I continued doing programmes and all of a sudden, people are tweeting me or asking my friends, ‘Is he OK? Is something wrong with him? Is he drunk? He’s slurring his words, he sounds slow’.”

Chris revealed it was only due to his friend’s support that he addressed speculation and revealed his speech condition: “That’s when eventually my good mate here [Ben] got me to spill the beans on Good Morning Britain."

Ben joined his Ninja Warrior UK co-star on the couch and praised Chris for how he’s dealt with his diagnosis and called him a “national treasure.”

Ben praised his friends and presenter co-star as a "national treasure" and that fans love to come and say hi when they see him (ITV)

"He was naturally very concerned because what Kammy doesn’t want is for him to feel the victim, for anyone to feel sorry for him,” Ben explained.

"He is a national treasure. Going out with Kammy is like going out with Justin Bieber, it’s a nightmare.

"You can’t go anywhere without people stopping him for photographs or pictures, they all just want to say it, and that’s been really lovely for him to see that warmth and spirit."

While some viewers wondered why Ben was on the show, others praised him for supporting his friend (ITV)

Speaking about Chris’ new documentary, Ben added: "That’s the most important thing for me, and we’ve talked about this a lot, for Kammy right now, the most important part of what he’s doing is trying to help people out there that don’t have a voice, that potentially could benefit from."

Some fans questioned why Ben was on the programme, when the segment was about Chris. While other viewers were quick to defend Ben for putting Chris at ease and supporting him on the sofa.

A viewer said: "For support, its his best friend!" as another echoed: "For support! They are best friends."

ITV viewers said it was a difficult watch, but praised "brave" Chris for talking about his diagnosis (ITV)

One user wrote: "Aww ben is his biggest cheer leader #ThisMorning."

Many fans also praised Chris as a legend: "@chris_kammy @benshephard Great to see you guys on #ThisMorning raising awareness of #Apraxia Much love & respect to you Kammy #Legend."

As another labelled it an “inspiring interview” as a fan added: "Watching #ThisMorning with @chris_kammy what a brave and great guy and putting it out there well done Kammy such a funny man love him to bits and well done keep up the good work with @benshephard."

Chris Kamara: Lost for Words will air on ITV on December 14.